Buckeyes’ Meyer is money as an underdog

Maybe it’s not a miracle, but it is amazing. Do you believe in Urban Meyer now? In his third year at Ohio State, and with a third-string quarterback making his third start, Meyer made a big statement.

He’s an undisputed champion, and money as an underdog.

In the first year of the four-team College Football Playoff, it became even more obvious that this format should have happened many years ago. A team that would have been relegated to a rather meaningless bowl game just won the national championship in convincing style.

“Meyer is just a master,” Wynn Las Vegas sports book director John Avello said, “and I think he was the difference.”

The Buckeyes, 6-point ’dogs, essentially blew out Oregon 42-20 in a surprisingly one-sided title game Monday night in Arlington, Texas. The Ducks benefited from four turnovers and still got crushed.

It was not a fluke. Ohio State whipped Wisconsin 59-0 in the Big Ten championship game and upset No. 1 Alabama 42-35 in a Sugar Bowl semifinal because Meyer is a master. And he was way too good for the anonymous guy on the Oregon sideline.

The Ducks had the nation’s best quarterback, Marcus Mariota, and a 7-0 lead. It was all Meyer after that.

“Oregon was totally out-coached,” Avello said. “Meyer executed a great game plan. Ohio State had four turnovers and still won by a ton.”

I believed the Buckeyes would win, but not by a ton. Avello said the game drew “fantastic balance” and a wagering handle that topped each of the four NFL playoff games over the weekend.

Now, let’s seriously think about an eight-team playoff. Texas Christian, which grilled Mississippi 42-3 in the rather meaningless Chick-fil-A Bowl on New Year’s Eve, is the only team that could possibly dispute Ohio State’s title. The Buckeyes jumped the Horned Frogs to sneak into the final four.

“We would have had Alabama and Oregon, and that’s it,” Avello said. “Now you have to think about it. I think you have to expand it a little further so more teams have a shot.”

Mariota took his shot, passing for 333 yards and two touchdowns, but the Heisman Trophy winner lost to Cardale Jones, a guy nobody knew two months ago.

The Buckeyes, left for dead after a home loss to Virginia Tech in September, dominated the Crimson Tide and Ducks. The Big Ten is back and only getting better with Jim Harbaugh as the new man at Michigan.

Thirty-eight bowls plus a title game are in the books, and here’s a review of the best and worst of the bowl season:

■ Best comeback: A tropical setting was the scene of one of the ugliest beats in football betting history. The Bahamas Bowl never will be forgotten, and not because it was the first bowl game played outside the U.S. or Canada since 1937. Western Kentucky, a 3½-point favorite, led 49-14 three minutes into the fourth quarter.

It looked easy until Central Michigan scored the final five touchdowns of the game, including a wild three-lateral, 75-yard touchdown as time expired. The Chippewas went for a 2-point conversion, but a pass was broken up, and the Hilltoppers won 49-48 while failing to cover.

One bettor on Western Kentucky called it his worst beat in almost 50 years. That was on Christmas Eve.

■ Second-worst collapse: The Armed Forces Bowl on Jan. 2 was a comparable disaster. Pittsburgh, a 3-point favorite, took a 31-6 lead on James Conner’s touchdown run with 14 minutes to go. To make a long and painful story short, Greg Ward Jr. passed for three touchdowns and a 2-point conversion in the final 3:41 as Houston rallied to win, 35-34.

■ Third-worst collapse: Baylor, a 2½-point favorite in the Cotton Bowl on New Year’s Day, blew a 41-21 fourth-quarter lead and lost 42-41 to Michigan State. Connor Cook’s touchdown pass with 17 seconds left was the winner.

After a mind-boggling meltdown, Bears coach Art Briles looked sick, and he didn’t even have a bet on the game.

■ Best performance by an underdog: Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly packed a four-game losing streak for a trip to Nashville, Tenn., for the Music City Bowl on Dec. 30. The Irish, 7½-point ’dogs, showed some fight in a 31-28 victory over Louisiana State.

■ Worst performance by a favorite: Bob Stoops was the coaching clown of the bowl season. Oklahoma was laying 3½ points to Clemson in the Russell Athletic Bowl, but the Sooners were no-shows in an embarrassing 40-6 loss.

■ Best quarterback: How about props for a small-school star? Rakeem Cato of Marshall finished the season with 40 touchdown passes, throwing for three as the Thundering Herd rolled over Northern Illinois 52-23 in the Boca Raton Bowl.

■ Worst coach: San Diego State’s Rocky Long came up short in the Poinsettia Bowl on his home field. With a 16-14 lead, the Aztecs went for it on fourth-and-5 at the Navy 12-yard line, but Quinn Kaehler threw an incompletion. After that lame decision, Long deserved to lose, and he did, 17-16.

■ Best brawl: A crazy ending to the Miami Beach Bowl was capped by a better battle. As soon as Memphis knocked off Brigham Young 55-48 in two overtimes, players from both teams threw punches in a bloody melee that was more entertaining than a Floyd Mayweather Jr. fight.

■ Worst goodbye: Jim McElwain ditched Colorado State for the coaching job at Florida, and who could blame him? Maybe the players he left behind. The Rams were sacrificial lambs in the Las Vegas Bowl on Dec. 20, when they were routed 45-10 by Utah.

The Pac-12 was looking pretty good on that day, but its top team took a bad beating on Monday.

Las Vegas Review-Journal sports betting columnist Matt Youmans can be reached at myoumans@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2907. He co-hosts “The Las Vegas Sportsline” weekdays at 2 p.m. on ESPN Radio (1100 AM). Follow him on Twitter: @mattyoumans247.